


Enough

by ArgentSleeper



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, M/M, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-17 08:12:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5861023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentSleeper/pseuds/ArgentSleeper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They may have less than nothing, but even in moments like this, they still have enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enough

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shadowofrazia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowofrazia/gifts).



The lights were all off, but Arthur knew that didn’t mean no one was home. He closed the door quietly behind him, toeing off his shoes and hanging up his coat. There was a chance, slim as it may be, that Merlin had fallen asleep between now and the time he had gotten off work. If that was the case, Arthur was not going to be responsible for waking him.  Merlin got so little sleep as it was.

Peeking in the bedroom, he could see Merlin was indeed curled up on the bed. Arthur made as little noise as he could in the kitchen, making himself a simple tuna sandwich and then settling on the sofa to eat it and fill out yet another dozen pointless applications. When Merlin hadn’t emerged an hour later, Arthur stood and made his way to the bedroom again. There was no sign that Merlin had had anything to eat before collapsing for the night, and he needed nourishment as much as he needed sleep, if not more.

“Merlin?” Arthur laid a hand on his partner’s shoulder. The muscles were stiff under his touch, indicating that sleep had been far from Merlin’s mind. Arthur held back a sigh, knowing it would be heard and taken the wrong way. “Bad day?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“I’m fine,” came Merlin’s hollow voice. “You’re supposed to be meeting with Leon tonight. You need to get going or you’ll be late.”

Arthur ignored him and crawled under the covers, slotting himself around Merlin’s back. “We’ll reschedule. Want to talk about it?”

Merlin shook his head. “Just the usual. Don’t worry about it.”

Arthur felt the guilt gnaw at his stomach the way it always did when he thought about how Merlin was treated at his job. As a telemarketer Merlin went into each day expecting to be hung up on, cursed at, and be given the run around. Sometimes it wasn’t so bad. After a while, hearing the click in the middle of a sentence lost its sting. But at the other end of the spectrum, listening to one person after the other scream at him to fuck off or kill himself or threaten terrible things towards his mother, it wasn’t surprising he ended his days trembling in bed, curled up tightly under the covers for comfort.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Merlin was supposed to be free to spend his days writing and chasing his muse. He wasn’t supposed to be breaking his back to work two jobs while Arthur flitted around town all day unable to find anything but the words “overqualified.” And the money he made should have been going to things like food and rent and going to see his mother, not paying off Arthur’s legal fees.

“I’ll drop the suit. If I do that he’ll have to ease up on the blacklisting. Then I can support us and you can rest.”

Merlin rolled over to face him, eyes tired but determined. “No. There’s a reason we’re fighting this case against your father. If you drop it, you’ll never get to have your mother’s inheritance, the one she _wanted_ you to have. You’ll never get to see Morgana again. He’ll keep her locked up in that madhouse forever.”

“But, Merlin-”

“ _No_ , Arthur. I’m fine, I promise. It won’t be like this forever.” Merlin cupped Arthur’s face with his hand. “And I don’t care what I have to put up with in the meantime, because I know at the end of the day you’ll be here beside me.”

Arthur smiled reluctantly and kissed the tip of Merlin’s nose. Then he pushed his partner gently until they were back to chest once more. Arthur trailed a finger down Merlin’s spine, tracing shapes and meaningless squiggles. “I will be. Always.”

Slowly, far too slowly, far more slowly than it had only a few months ago, the tension began to bleed out under Arthur’s touch. Arthur feared for the day when it wouldn’t release at all. When he wouldn’t be able to pull Merlin back out of his despair and Merlin would realize he was better off without Arthur and his family drama dragging him down.

But that was the future. For now there was just them, in their tiny flat, with tuna sandwiches and snuggling under the blanket.

And for now, that was enough.


End file.
